An old friend: Now that warmer weather has arrived, people who take Sunday drives along Illinois Highway 176 will discover what Wauconda residents have known all winter: Mers Restaurant, a decades-old favorite scenic stopping spot for locals and travelers, has changed hands. The sign outside the restaurant, a turn-of-the-century building that overlooks Bangs Lake, has read Biloxi Grill for the last couple of months.
Longtime Wauconda resident Rosemary Mers closed the place early on New Year’s Day after nearly 39 years of running the restaurant alongside three generations of Robert Merses–her late father-in-law, her late husband (Robert Jr.) and her son (Bobby).
More Top Picks Sensi Wifi Programmable
She and Bobby said their final farewells to more than 300 old friends and returning employees at a big New Year’s Eve bash. She handed over the keys to Barrington restaurateurs David and Catherine Koelling, who are putting their own stamp on the place. The Koellings, former owners of the Greenery in Barrington, serve upscale Southern comfort dishes.
“They are a young couple with young children, and they are starting out there just like my husband and I did years ago. David is making his own footsteps,” Rosemary Mers said.
She has no regrets. After noting that the recent Easter dinner was the first one she had at home with her family in 38 years, Mers said, “People ask me why did we close. Their children who had their weddings there were going to have their (children’s) christenings there. And people tell me they were going to celebrate their 50th anniversary there. Well, it’s a tough business. We raised our children in it. But it doesn’t allow much time for family life. We worked all the holidays. We burned out. I don’t miss being in the restaurant business. I do miss the people, the friends we made.”